Truth behind new Netflix blockbuster of Adolf Eichmann’s capture

EXCLUSIVE – Revealed: Truth behind new Netflix drama of Adolf Eichmann’s capture and the fate of his four sons as one is pictured living in Buenos Aires – just a few streets from spot where Nazi monster was snatched then hanged

Adolf Eichmann was the mastermind behind the Holocaust and gatekeeper of the Third Reich who sent six million Jews to their deaths

After the war, he fled justice and settled into family life in a modest family home in a suburb of Buenos Aires with his wife, Veronika Liebl and their four sons

Eichmann changed his name to Ricardo Klement and worked in a Mercedes factory as he put his dark past behind him

But his secret was exposed when his eldest son Klaus started dating a Jewish girl who uncovered who Eichmann really was and alerted Israel’s secret services

On May 11, 1960 Eichmann was seized by Mossad agents as he got off a bus near his home after work

He was held in a safe house for days before being sedated, put onto a plane and flown to Israel where he faced justice for his war crimes

His three eldest sons rallied against the injustice of their father’s execution with two forming a Nazi cell to attack Jewish businesses and synagogues

Now MailOnline can reveal the fate of his four sons including his third son Dieter who is pictured living in Buenos Aires close to where his father was captured

MailOnline also tracked down the mistress of Eichmann’s second son Horst who reveals what became of the brothers

The incredible story has been turned into a Netflix blockbuster starring Ben Kingsley

By

Jake Wallis Simons Associate Global Editor In Buenos Aires, Argentina

Published:
09:14 GMT, 2 November 2018

| Updated:
12:23 GMT, 2 November 2018

The fates of Nazi monster Adolf Eichmann’s four sons can be revealed for the first time today by MailOnline.

Eichmann was the mastermind behind the Holocaust and gatekeeper of the Third Reich who sent six million Jews to their deaths.

The incredible story of how he was found living in a modest house in Argentina and snatched off the street by Mossad before being executed in Israel has been turned into a gripping film ‘Operation Finale’ by Netflix.

Eichmann had four sons – the three eldest Klaus, Horst and Dieter, who remained loyal to him even after his death and the youngest, Ricardo, who rejected him.

Now MailOnline can reveal that Klaus and Horst are dead, while Ricardo, who was five when his father was taken, is living in Germany.

MailOnline tracked down the other brother, Eichmann’s third son Dieter, now 76, to a flat in Buenos Aires just a few miles from the spot where his father was snatched off the street before being hanged. He refused to comment.

But we found the mistress of Dieter’s older brother Horst who was prepared to reveal what became of the family – and the truth behind the story turned into a Netflix blockbuster starring Ben Kingsley.

MailOnline tracked down Nazi monster Adolf Eichmann’s third son Dieter to a flat in Buenos Aires with his Italian wife, Martha Valinotti (pictured) not far from the spot where his father was snatched off of the street by Mossad agents and taken to Israel to be executed

Eichmann’s three eldest sons (left to right Horst, Dieter and Klaus) idolised their father and rallied against their perceived injustice of his arrest then hanging in 1962. Klaus and Horst formed a Nazi terror cell that attacked on Jewish businesses and synagogues

Eichmann (pictured at his war crimes trial) was the mastermind behind the Holocaust who sent six million Jews to their deaths. The incredible story of how he was snatched off the street in Argentina and executed in Israel has been made into a Netflix film

Eichmann was closest to his second eldest son Horst (pictured left), according to Horst’s long-term mistress Carmen Bretín Lindemann (pictured right). Describing Horst as a ‘strong Nazi’, she said he flew a swastika above the family home after their beloved father was snatched

Speaking at her home in Garupá, northern Argentina, Carmen, 61, said her lover Horst was closest to his father and not his eldest son Klaus, as portrayed in the film.

Describing Horst as a ‘strong Nazi’, she said he flew a swastika above the family home when their father was snatched, and often wore a Nazi armband around the house.

Standing next to a cabinet owned by ‘Grandpa Eichmann’, she said: ‘After Grandpa Eichmann was kidnapped, it was a crisis for the family.

‘It was a very difficult time when he was in prison in Israel. The family were prepared for his execution. They all knew it would happen.

‘Grandpa Eichmann had once told them that he was tired of being a fugitive. He knew what was coming and the older children knew it too.

‘They expected it, but it didn’t make it easier. When he was executed, Klaus and Horst became very angry and started attacking Jews. That made things even worse for them.’

Like many German war criminals, Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer Eichmann, who was in charge of deporting European Jewry to the gas chambers, went on the run and settled into obscurity in Argentina in 1950.

Changing his name to Ricardo Klement, he lived quietly with his wife Veronika Liebl and their four sons in an unassuming house in Buenos Aires where he worked at the local Mercedes plant before he was caught and executed.

Like many German war criminals, Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer Eichmann (left in his uniform and right led blindfolded onto a plane by Mossad agents), went on the run after the war and settled into a quiet life in Argentina in 1950 where he felt protected by the political system

On May 11, 1960 Eichmann (pictured during his brief spell as a rabbit farmer) was seized by Mossad agents as he got off a bus near the home he built at 14 Garibaldi street. He was held in a safe house for days before he was sedated, put onto a plane and flown to Israel to face justice

Eichmann had four sons – the three eldest Klaus, Horst (pictured with his daughter Veronica) and Dieter, all of whom idolised their father and the youngest, Ricardo, who rejected him

Horst’s mistress Carmen described him as ‘a strong Nazi’ and said he flew a swastika above the family home when his father was snatched and often wore a Nazi armband around the house

The Netxflix blockbuster tells the story of how Eichmann was unmasked after his eldest son Klaus (left) started dating a Jewish girl who uncovered who Eichmann really was and alerted Israel’s secret services. His third son Dieter (right) has always insisted his father was innocent

Of Eichmann’s four sons, only the youngest, Ricardo, 62, (left) an archaeologist living in Germany, has denounced his father, saying his execution was justified. Horst (right) was loyal to his father to the end and remained in Argentina after making a promise to him to stay there

After his capture Eichmann was held in a secret safe house in Buenos Aires for several days before he was sedated and taken blindfolded (pictured) onto a plane and spirited out of the country

The Netflix blockbuster showed how Eichmann’s identity was discovered by a Jewish woman called Sylvia Hermann, who briefly dated his eldest son, Klaus.

Klaus did not know that Sylvia was Jewish, or that her blind father Lother had survived the notorious Dachau concentration camp.

He boasted about Eichmann’s exploits as one of Adolf Hitler’s most trusted henchmen – but said he had been killed during the war and that he was raised by his uncle in Argentina.

But after Sylvia overheard her boyfriend calling him ‘father’, she alerted Israel’s secret service.

On May 11, 1960 Eichmann was seized by Mossad agents as he got off a bus near the home he built at 14 Garibaldi street, which has since been destroyed.

He was blindfolded and held in a safe house, before being sedated and spirited out of Argentina on a plane to Israel, where he was tried and found guilty.

Fearing retaliation from Eichmann’s sons, Sylvia fled to the west coast of America, where she still lives.

During his trial, Eichmann boasted that he would ‘leap laughing into my grave’ because of his ‘extraordinary satisfaction’ at killing millions of Jews.

While he was stood at the gallows at his execution in ‘Ramla’ jail in 1962, an official said his last words before he was hanged were, ‘I hope that all of you will follow me.’

Carmen, a professional seamstress who spent 13 years with Horst, described how he had worshipped his father.

‘Horst was a very strong Nazi and believed that his father had done nothing wrong,’ she said.

‘Apart from Ricardo, all the brothers agreed that Grandpa Eichmann was innocent. He told his sons that Hitler went after the Jews because they planned to sterilise Germans by putting a chemical in the water.

Nazi war criminal Eichmann smoking in his cell at Djalameh Jail, Israel, where he was held in 19061 after he being captured by Mossad agents in Argentina

Eichmann writes at table in his cell. He fled to Argentina after the war, where the Israeli secret service captured him, drugged him and smuggled him out of the country on an El Al flight

During his trial, Eichmann (pictured reading on his prison bed) boasted that he would ‘leap laughing into my grave’ because of his ‘extraordinary satisfaction’ at killing millions of Jews

While Eichmann (pictured having a medical examination) stood at the gallows at his execution in Ramla jail in 1962, his last words were apparently, ‘I hope that all of you will follow me’

After Eichmann was condemned to death, his eldest son Klaus rallied against the injustice of it and called a press conference in Argentina, which was reported in the newspaper (pictured)

‘That is why they were killed, he told them. Horst strongly believed that his father had done the right thing. If Horst thought his Grandpa Eichman was guilty, his whole world would have fallen apart.’

After Eichmann’s execution, Horst and Klaus formed a Nazi terror cell that carried out attacks on Jewish businesses and synagogues.

In 1962, following a shoot-out with the gang, police raided their HQ and unearthed Nazi propaganda, guns and Molotov cocktails intended for an attack on a Jewish school bus. Horst was jailed two years later for possessing firearms and Nazi propaganda material.

According to Carmen, Eichmann persuaded his sons that he had only wanted to expel the Jews, but was forced to kill them after no other country would accept them.

Eichmann initially told his sons that he was their uncle, in order to avoid detection.

But during an argument with Horst, he admitted to being their father, Carmen said.

His abduction and execution was a turning point in his sons’ lives and they were never able to fully recover.

Horst, who as a young man worked in the merchant navy, was at sea on a cargo ship called Cap Castillo when his father was snatched. He was riddled with guilt for the rest of his life.

‘After Grandpa Eichmann was killed, the family was in all the newspapers and things became even more difficult, especially when Horst was imprisoned,’ Carmen said.

‘For a few years, Horst and Dieter had an oil business based in Bancalari, Buenos Aires. They would extract oil and sail it to Paraguay to be sold.

‘Horst also owned a plane, a Luftcombe. But with all the pressure on the family, they became broke.

‘Dieter picked up jobs in construction and as a driver for people who had lost their licences.

‘Klaus was older and Horst and Dieter didn’t see him that much. But they were all struggling.

‘It was hard for them all. Eventually, Klaus fled to Germany, where Ricardo was already living with his mother. Dieter couldn’t settle and began spending six months in Germany and six months in Buenos Aires.’

Carmen said Horst was 75 when he died of bowel cancer at their home in Junin, near Buenos Aires, in December 2015.

His brother Klaus died in Germany the same year after a battle with Alzheimer’s, aged 79.

Their reclusive brother, Dieter, his third son, lives with his Italian wife, Martha Valinotti, in a flat in Olivos, Buenos Aires, not far from his father’s old home at 4261 Chacabuco Street.

The former construction foreman, who divided his time between Germany and Argentina before he retired, owns a number of rental properties.

Dieter has never given an interview – but the father-of-two still insists his father was innocent, according to Carmen.

After the war Vienna-born Eichmann slipped out of Germany and moved to Argentina where he lived in this house with his four sons and his wife. When he was taken, the family was living in another house he built himself in 14 Garibaldi street, which has since been destroyed

In a conversation reported in a German newspaper in 1962, Dieter said that the Holocaust occurred because Jews had too many top jobs in Germany.

In 1999, Dieter forced the Israeli government to release the writings his father produced while awaiting his trial.

When approached by MailOnline, he said: ‘I’m not saying anything about the documents or my father. I don’t know what you are talking about.’

Of Eichmann’s four sons, only the youngest, Ricardo, 62, an archaeologist living in Germany, has openly denounced his father, saying his execution was justified. He said that Eichmann is just a historical figure to him now.

Ricardo was just five years old when Eichmann was abducted. In 1995, he had an emotional meeting with one of the Israeli agents who kidnapped his father.

When approached in Germany by MailOnline, Ricardo declined to comment.

But there was a particularly strong bond between Eichmann and Horst, Carmen said.

The two would talk for hours while tending the family rabbit farm, before Eichmann took a job at the Buenos Aires Mercedes-Benz factory.

After serving time in prison, he started his own furniture removal company. As he got older, he became active in Nationalist Argentine politics.

Horst and Carmen had one daughter, Veronica. Now 39, she works for the well-known Argentine politician Ramon Puerta. She is currently applying for German nationality.

‘Veronica is proud of the Eichmann name,’ Carmen said. ‘She hasn’t changed it. She is happy with the family she has, though she doesn’t always tell people who she is.’

Horst had three children by his wife, Elvira Pummer, whom he married in 1962.

His son married a woman of Jewish heritage, something that created tension at the time.

Carmen started a relationship with Horst in the mid-70s after he left his wife, but they never married as Horst and Elvira were not divorced. Elvira, now 78 and disabled, lives in Buenos Aires.

Eichmann’s incredible story has been turned into a Netflix blockbuster starring Ben Kingsley

The Netflix movie showed how Eichmann’s identity was discovered by a Jewish woman called Sylvia Hermann, who briefly dated his eldest son, Klaus. Klaus said his father was one of Hitler’s henchmen before he was killed in the war and Klaus was being brought up by his uncle

But Sylvia heard Klaus refer to Eichmann as his father and she tipped off the Israeli secret services that the Nazi monster was alive and well and hiding in Buenos Aires

After Mossad agents grabbed Eichmann off the road on his way home from work, Klaus (pictured left and right in the film) searched frantically for his father as he was held by Mossad agents in a safe house in Buenos Aires

Carmen said she only discovered the identity of Horst’s Nazi father when she was six months pregnant with their daughter.

‘It was a shock at first,’ she recalled. ‘But I didn’t blame Horst for not telling me. He was a very cautious person. When Veronica was born, we gave my maiden name to the hospital. We could never know who was around us.’

By contrast, Klaus, the oldest brother, was the most deeply committed Nazi of the four boys. He and an armed Nazi gang tried to claim Eichmann back after the kidnap.

According to newspaper reports from the time, Klaus called a press conference in Buenos Aires a few hours after Eichmann was condemned to death, railing against the ‘injustice’ of the sentence.

In 1961, while visiting the United States, Klaus was interviewed for Parade Magazine. He said: ‘All these things they are accusing my father of are pure propaganda…These war crimes are not true… I have heard that top Jews themselves ordered these executions because they believe Jews should be martyrs.’

According to declassified CIA documents, Klaus was deported from the United States after the interview was published.

Despite his Nazi views, in 1959 Klaus married Marta, a woman of African descent, and had two part-black children by her.

Klaus later abandoned his wife and moved to Konstanz, southern Germany, where he had three more children with another woman before his death three years ago.

FACT BOX TITLE

Klaus Eichmann

The oldest of the Eichmann boys, Klaus was born in Berlin in 1936. He was a committed Nazi, founding an underground cell in the Sixties that attacked Jews in Argentina. His relationship with Sylvia Hermann, who unbeknownst to him was Jewish, led to the capture of his father by Israeli spies.

When Eichmann was abducted, Klaus led an armed Nazi gang to try to get him back. He later led a rampage against Jewish businesses in Buenos Aires.

He married Marta, a woman of African heritage in 1959, and had two children in Buenos Aires.

One now lives in Switzerland, and the other in Germany.

He then abandoned his wife and moved to Konstanz, southern Germany, where he had three children with another woman.

He died in Germany in 2015 after a battle with Alzheimer’s, aged 79.

Horst Eichmann

Eichmann’s second son, born in Vienna in 1940, was a committed Nazi.

He was imprisoned in Buenos Aires in 1964 for possessing weapons and Nazi propaganda. Unlike his brothers, he never left Argentina as he promised his father before he died that he would remain there.

He married a local woman, Elvira Pummer (now 78, disabled and living in Buenos Aires), and had three children with her.

According to a family member, one of them married a woman of Jewish extraction.

Like his brother Klaus he later abandoned his wife, but they never divorced as Elvira is Catholic.

In the Seventies, Horst started a relationship with seamstress Carmen Bretín Lindemann, 61, whose family is German but has lived in Argentina since after WWI. They had a daughter, Veronica, together. She works for an Argentine politician and is applying for German citizenship.

As a young man, Horst worked in the merchant navy and was at sea when his father was kidnapped. He later started an oil extraction firm with his brother Dieter, and then founded a furniture removal company. Horst died in December 2015 of bowel cancer at his home in Junin, near Buenos Aires, aged 75.

Dieter Eichmann

Born in 1942 in Prague, Dieter is not believed to have been directly involved with Nazi activities, but has never publicly denounced his father. A family member said that Dieter still insists that Eichmann was innocent.

In a conversation with a friend, reported in German press, he said the Holocaust occurred because Jews had too many top jobs in Germany.

He tried to start an oil extraction business with his brother Horst but this failed.

He then became a construction foreman. Amid the pressure resulting from his notorious father, for much of his working life he lived six months in Germany and six months in Argentina.

In 1999, Dieter forced the Israeli government to release the writings his father produced while awaiting trial, and became the custodian of the family archives.

When he retired, he moved into a secure apartment in Olivos, Buenos Aires, close to where his father lived before he was abducted. Now aged 76, he lives there with his Italian wife, Martha Valinotti.

Ricardo Eichmann

The youngest of the Eichmann boys was the only one to be born in Buenos Aires, in 1955.

He is also the only son to have openly denounced his father. Just five years old when his father was kidnapped, Ricardo was taken away to Germany by his mother, Veronika.

He grew up to qualify as an archaeologist specialising in the Middle East, and now works at a university in Germany. In the mid-Nineties, he gave a series of interviews in which he said his father deserved to die.

He even met the Mossad agent who kidnapped him.

Ricardo did not have a close relationship with his brothers, and last saw Horst in 1983.